Winter Wonderland
by Three Lights Fan 278
Summary: Usagi and Seiya spend some of their Christmas Eve together.


**Winter Wonderland**

I found myself sitting with Taiki and Yaten in our apartment on the day the people on Earth called Christmas. Everyone talked about how this time of year was supposed to be something special, something magical. Looking at sourpuss and dark and dreary, though, you wouldn't think it was Christmas.

Taiki was reading intently and Yaten was just staring blankly at the ceiling.

_Jeez, someone needs to spring some life into them… I feel like I'm stuck in a mental ward or something. _I thought to myself. I couldn't blame them, I felt the same. The same empty hole because she was still missing… but I just didn't want to feel that hole anymore. I had to get out.

"I'm going out." I announced. Yaten remained silent but Taiki looked up from his book.

"It's freezing outside…" he said, peering out the window for a moment.

I shrugged. "Need some fresh air." I pulled on my jacket and opened the door. Taiki frowned and went back to reading his book. Yaten gave me an ugly look for the briefest second. I didn't need him to say what he was thinking; it was evident on his face. _Why are you going out to frolic in the snow, Seiya? What about our mission, our princess?_

But they didn't understand, I thought as I walked through the snow. I took our mission seriously and I longed for the princess as much as they did. I just had a different way of dealing with those feelings. Taiki was the silent brooding type, Yaten was outspoken about his frustrations. I tried to block those feelings out entirely.

And it was easy to distract myself when I was around _her_. She radiated warmth, happiness and understanding. It seemed that no matter how bad things were, being around her could always lift me up. Thinking of her blue eyes and golden hair made me smile as her house came into view.

And then there she was, looking out her window. I smiled as I looked up at her. But she didn't see me. There was no acknowledgement of my waving outside. She simply was staring out the window into space intently, much like Yaten was staring at the ceiling earlier. I frowned as I walked to the door and knocked. Odango hardly ever seemed so out of it. And this was supposedly a happy, magical day.

A few moments later she opened the door, her blue eyes widening a bit in surprise.

"Seiya…" she said as she looked at me. Then she forced her lips into a smile. Her eyes though didn't radiate the same happiness they usually did and her hair, though it was still beautiful was messier than usual.

"Yo." I smiled at her. Hopefully she could revert back to her chipper self…

"I was wondering if you wanted to go do something… for Christmas."

She looked thoughtful for a moment, glancing at the ground. I wondered for a moment if she would reject my invitation.

"Okay. I haven't really taken a close look at all the Christmas Lights yet… I guess now would be a good time." She smiled lightly and pulled a coat from a hanger by the door, pulling it on before shutting the door.

I smiled slightly as I walked down the road with her. I wasn't sure where exactly she wanted to go so I followed her lead.

Getting out of her house seemed to be good for her. Every once in a while, we would stop to look at a house all lit up with lights, when she would say something like, "kirei!" or, "kawaii!" It didn't take much to fascinate her and I enjoyed this… her childlike nature was refreshing. I didn't mind stopping for the lights, or the cold because somehow looking at the houses seemed to cheer her up. I was also fascinated by this tradition. They didn't have anything like that on Kinmokusei. Each home was unique and lovely in its own way. I wished the earth people would leave up those lights all year long. They seemed to make everything bright and cheerful.

We must have walked through most of the town. Soon it was dark and you could see the moon and stars shining in the night sky. There wasn't a lot of conversation on our walk, but it was okay with me as long as I was spending time with her. When I felt like breaking the silence, I asked her a very cliché question.

"So what do you want for Christmas?" Well, it seemed to be what everyone asked about this time of year on Earth. She stopped walking for a minute and pondered silently. "I don't know." She shrugged and we continued walking. "What about you?" She asked me.

"Me?" I asked. "I'm not sure. I've never had to think about it before." I said.

"Don't they have Christmas on Kinmokusei?"

"No." I gave her what I thought was an obvious answer.

"What! So there's no... no lights, no trees, no presents?" She squeaked, pouting a bit.

"Nope." I chuckled slightly and kept walking.

I noticed after a few steps that she had stayed where she was.

"Aren't you coming?" I asked her and she blinked, running to catch up to me, and we continued walking. We only got a couple of steps before she stopped again.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I have to take you someplace nice!" She cheered.

I blinked confused at her... "Okay…" I said hesitantly.

"Come on!" She tugged me, and we ran for a few blocks.

"Where are we going?" I asked her a bit out of breath.

"Just keep running!"

I found it rather odd that she could run like this. I guess it just took the want to on her part to do things like running. Soon she stopped running, and we both stopped, out of breath.

What stood in front of us was a huge, snow covered hill. My mouth dropped. "We're going to climb _that_?"

She giggled some. "If I can do it you can." She said and started walking up the hill.

I followed her, wondering what was so interesting at the top. Soon I had out climbed her.

"I thought this was easy." I joked once I got to the top, looking down at her still making her way up.

Once she was on top of the hill with me, I smirked. "Good job." I teased and she stuck her tongue out at me. "So what did we climb this thing for?"

"For this!" She grabbed my hand and drug me almost to the edge of the hill. We looked over the hill, and I saw probably the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The whole town looked like it had been lit up with Christmas lights. She had taken me to the highest point in town. It looked like a commercial I had seen on television. I had wanted to see something like that for real. I wondered if she knew that or something.

"Isn't it pretty?" She was excited and I could finally see the sparkle in her eyes again as she looked out on the town.

"It's beautiful." I said as I slowly sat down, still looking over the hill.

"Thanks for taking me here." I said looking at her with a smile.

She seemed even happier when I said that. "I love it here."

She carefully started walking down the hill a bit, but then sat down to look out at the Christmas scene. I did the same.

"I thought you might like to see all the Christmas lights in the whole town at once, especially because you've never seen them before." She smiled a soft, ironic smile. Something about this place was bittersweet for her…

"Mamo-chan and I come here every year." There it was. I frowned some, thinking of the boyfriend in America that she always talked about but never heard from.

"It's very nice." I decided not to mention Mamoru farther. "I wish we got this back home… the snow and lights."

Thinking about that made me sad. I wished our princess was here to enjoy this. She would have appreciated all this beauty. And this snow… it was so cold. I frowned, swallowing a lump in my throat, hoping that Kakyuu was somewhere warm.

Odango looked at me concerned. "What's up?"

I blinked, not wanting to ruin her mood any. "Nothing... this is really nice. Our Princess would love it."

She could tell I was sad and scooted closer to give me a hug. I smiled lightly and hugged her back. _It's okay to hug me as long as I don't touch her first; _I thought to myself and inwardly laughed.

"Tonight we aren't going to think about that. Nothing sad! Tonight we're just going to think about happy things like... Christmas lights and snow!" She said cheerfully.

"Thank you, Odango." I said looking at her with a charming smile.

"For what?" she asked, looking back at me innocently.

"For always filling me with warmth." I said sincerely.

She flushed brightly before quickly turning her head back towards the lights.

"Ne, do they have Christmas lights in America?" She asked. Her way of reminding me she had a boyfriend, I thought.

I chuckled lightly. "I don't know. I thought we weren't going to think about anything sad."

She shook her head lightly. "It's not sad. I hope Mamo-chan is seeing something beautiful in America." She smiled that ironic, small smile again.

I ruffled her hair some, smiling at her then looked out at the lights again.

We looked out at the lights longer, then I looked at my watch, seeing it was now very late. I looked at her, still looking out on the lights intently, lost in her thoughts, probably ones of her boyfriend.

"It's late."

"Really?" We both stood up and stretched some. "I hate to leave this place… it's so beautiful." She said.

"Me too. But you'll freeze."

We started slowly making our way down the hill. I made sure to help her down the steep areas of the hill so she wouldn't fall.

"Hey, What's your Christmas wish?" She asked once we had been walking for a while.

"Like I said before… it's not something I've ever had to think about before.

"I know, I know. Just... pick a wish. Anything, anything at all. What would you wish for?"

I thought a minute. "Definitely for this to be over and to go back home."

She frowned sympathetically for me. I didn't want her to think on it too much so I changed the subject.

"What about you?" I asked her.

She blinked. "Me? Well everyone knows what I would wish for. Mamo-chan!"

I sweat dropped, and she giggled, "But I know I won't be able to. I guess I wish for... peace too." she smiled.

Her house appeared in the distance and we walked up the street. I walked her to her door.

She looked into her house, smiling some. Her family was talking happily and I could smell some good food from inside. "Everyone is going to be mad at me for being out so late on Christmas Eve."

"Tell them I didn't let you go." I winked.

"Goodbye-" She started in the house.

"Hey wait."

"Nani?"

"Merry Christmas." I smiled.

"You too." She smiled and walked inside, closing the door ever so slowly. I made my way back home, thinking that my Christmas had been much better than Taiki and Yaten's.


End file.
